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Falling in Love…

Good morning, everyone! Did you have a happy Valentine’s Day weekend? I think it’s kind of shocking how quickly the stores are over it and the Easter things are already lining every shelf! I guess it’s good that we always have something to look forward to next. I wrote a Valentine’s Day-ish column for The Salisbury Post about falling in love… with writing. I thought I’d share it with all of you as well. I hope you enjoy and have a wonderful week!

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Kristy Woodson Harvey: Writing is a good way to make a life

Published 12:00 am Sunday, February 15, 2015

It’s February. The month of love. So maybe that’s why, in the recent interviews I’ve done about my upcoming novel, “Dear Carolina,” I’ve been asked so much about falling in love. With writing, that is.

Everyone wants to know about the moment I knew. And I feel very lucky that I have an answer.

And I owe that to The Salisbury Post.

I interned at this paper in high school, and that year marked a lot of firsts for me: the first time I ever wrote a column, the first time I ever got to see my byline in a real publication, the first time I got to copyedit a piece that someone else had written. Those early mornings at The Post certainly gave me the writing bug. And that internship no doubt influenced my decision to go to journalism school at UNC. 

But I don’t think it was until the summer after my freshman year in college, when I was interning at The Salisbury Post yet again, that I actually fell.

If you’ve ever been an intern, you know that you aren’t exactly at the top of the food chain. You’re there to learn, of course. But you’re also there to do the things that no one else wants to do. That summer, the thing that no one else wanted to do was write about big vegetables.

I can’t remember exactly what they called these pieces, but they were about interesting things that Rowan County citizens grew in their gardens: 10-foot-tall sunflowers, the biggest zucchini on record, a squash that looked exactly like a heart. 

Looking back, I can see why the other reporters didn’t exactly think this was their opportunity for a Pulitzer. But I was thrilled. This was a chance for me to see my name in print over and over and over again. This was my shot at going back to UNC with a file of clips that would impress my professors who were always referring to our hometown newspaper as one of the best small dailies in America. Well, if I could make a heart-shaped squash worth reading about, of course.

I remember standing out behind a house in a big lot, swatting away the summer gnats, and realizing as I talked to the couple that had grown said squash that I wasn’t here to write about plants. I was here to write about people. Interesting people. People with lives and hopes and dreams and families. People, as my journalism professors would say, with a story.

Something clicked for me that summer because I realized that that’s the kind of writer I wanted to be. I wanted to write about people. And the more I grow up and the more I write the more I realize that that’s what we’re always writing about anyway. People. When I write about design, it’s about people. And when I write novels, they’re about people too. 

And every, single last one of us, from top to bottom, has a wonderful, interesting story. And it’s ours to tell, whether that telling allows our names to end up in print or not.

When I was finished telling my story about falling in love with writing, the interviewer asked me about the process of getting a book published. After I detailed the steps, the highs and lows, the rejections and the triumphs, she said, “That sounds awful. Aren’t there easier ways to make money?”

I just laughed. Because a lot of things in life are about making money. But, for me, writing isn’t one of them. It’s about having a story in your heart and getting to share that with the world. It’s about sticking with something until you round out the edges and make them soft, about passion and commitment, taking the good with the bad, giving away your whole heart. In short, writing is a lot like falling in love.

Kristy Woodson Harvey, a Salisbury native, lives in Kinston. Her debut novel, “Dear Carolina” (Berkley/Penguin), is available for preorder from The Literary Book Post and Amazon.

 

  • Well-said Kristy, of course, I expect nothing BUT, from a writer such as you.
    Passion is the key to what drives a lot of things, and I often ask the question of wether I’d still be doing what I’m doing if I get paid half or even so much less, and my answer is YES.
    Love for what you do is the key to creating inspiring things, be it in writing, art or just plain service!

    • You definitely embody living out your passions, Vel. No doubt about that! your passion for helping others is amazing!

  • Kristy,
    What a fun story. I think it sounds like you are doing what you love, that’s the best way to make money. How fun to have an internship that introduced you to your true professional calling. We are all excited to read your upcoming novel!
    xo,
    Karen

    • Thanks, Karen! I know… I had a lot of internships that did NOT lead to what I wanted to do 🙂 But it’s good to live and learn! Haha!

  • What a wonderful story! Often the people who have the most success in life are not afraid to start out in the trenches and work their way up! And for the record, I still love to go and look at the cool vegetables at the fair every year 🙂

  • Best thing I’ve read in a while…giving away your whole heart! And that’s it in a nutshell! Making yourself vulnerable and truly seeing the vulnerable side of the people you are writing about! So glad I just stumbled on this! Super excited about reading your book! Just got it today! Thanks!

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